


206 Bones

by tatooedlaura



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Ficlet, X-Files OctoberFicFest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-22 02:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8268742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatooedlaura/pseuds/tatooedlaura
Summary: Just stay behind me ...





	

He felt like he fell for hours, drifting slowly down the hole in the floor, the opening in the wood above him shrinking up and away, the ground nearing his fragile body in stuttering increments. He swore he remembered looking around, taking in the passing walls, hearing his heart beat in loud, chaotic thumps as he realized that once he finally found the Earth beneath him, he was going to die.

He would die …

206 bones would argue amongst themselves about which would break first, second, which would shatter and which would snap in half, protruding from the skin or puncturing organs vital to his survival for those two minutes before he either drown in his own blood or listened to his lungs gasp their final breath while inhaling dirt, sweat and the unique, all-consuming and utterly exacting metallic smell of sheer terror.

He would die …

As he heard his corporeal housing hit its destination twelve stories below his starting point, the final ounce of air exited his lungs in a sputtered whistle and his skull cracked simultaneously with his spine. Nerves severed, the pain stopped but the fading light handing in front of his fading eyes made him wonder, was this heaven coming for him or hell opening its door.

&&&&&&&&&&

Mulder couldn’t believe it had taken them six day, seven hours and 38 minutes to get any kind of lead on this guy and another 14 minutes to get out to his house and still 7 minutes more to discover the suspect was already gone. Slamming his fist into the nearest wall, he then kicked the already abused wall several times before Scully found him in the crowd of still masked, vested and armed agents.

“Mulder?”

“Don’t talk right now, Scully, please?”

The rage in his tone made her pull back a step or two, knowing that pushing him now would just bring about angry words and a regretful evening ending in begged forgiveness while Scully withheld her secret stash of Oreos in her bag. Wanting to save the Oreos for a more fun time, perhaps over a cup of lukewarm tea or even a coveted mug of shared hot chocolate once they were back up to the hotel sometime in the next week, she waited patiently against the wall a yard from his still wired, still coiled looking for a fight figure.

It wasn’t until one of the officers came up to her, telling her they were going to start their sweep for evidence, that she knew she had to move Mulder out of the way, get them both out of their gear and back in to help sift through two floors of serial killer horded detritus.

Eight hours later, Mulder’s hand on her back made her jump, his warm palm settled against her grimy neck, “hey, I’m so hungry I can’t see straight. Let’s get out of here and find something resembling something healthy. Never thought I’d say it but I kinda want a salad.”

Standing, her back cracked and her eyes had trouble focusing further than six inches from her face. With a blurry, cross-eyed look at her partner, “I kinda want a big, fat, cheeseburger with bacon and extra provolone.”

“Are we ever going to be on the same page here, Scully?”

Brushing past him, she pulled his shirt and him along with her, “come on. Take me to one of those greasy spoons you love so much.”

They sat in that diner for hours, last booth, furthest corner from the door. For at least an hour of that, Scully slept with her head on her arms on the table, her hair dangerously close to her chicken soup bowl until the waitress took pity and silently removed the offending dishes, while Mulder rested his head on the cool glass of the window beside him, not drooling but fogging up the glass with every breath.

The rest of the time was spent either chewing and rehashing the evidence or rehashing the evidence while chewing. Either way, they didn’t get much done, their nap the most productive thing that happened at the semi-shiny white, gold-flecked table top that night. When Mulder’s phone vibrated the Formica under Scully’s cheek, she sat up with a start, her hair flopping over her forehead and her eyes darting wildly until they fell on the offending technology. Grabbing it as Mulder lifted his own head, forehead sticking to the glass for a moment before he made it completely upright, she said hello.

It didn’t take long after that for the pair to get their bearings, pay, apologize for their sleeping and disappear into the early morning towards the police station.

What they came upon once they got back to headquarters made Scully stop in her tracks. The boxes they’d retrieved from Darnell Parson’s house had been unpacked and the items found included fingers, eyeballs, a pair of toddler feet dangling on shoelaces …  
and that’s when Scully’s wall between emotion and objectivity dissolved instantly, a cold flame of real fear sparking in her chest, small and unmistakable.

She took a moment, then clicked back to Agent Scully mode, following behind Mulder as he continued through the room, weaving through photos and tangible evidence that they could very well be on the search for the devil himself.

Chocking up her growing feeling of dread to exhaustion, anger and lack of any type of proper vitamin or mineral, she helped her partner search, track and eventually corner Parsons in an abandoned building fifteen minutes away, half demolished and dangerous to any and all who set foot inside.

Only seconds before getting the final word to take the building, Scully’s fear got the better of her and she turned Mulder to face her, pulling him down to her, pressing her lips to his then shifting back before he could comprehend, “be careful.”  
“Scully?”

“I don’t like this and you’re not going in there without promising me you’ll come back out.”

As the commander called ‘go’, he dropped a kiss on her forehead before tightening her helmet strap more securely under her chin, “stay behind me.”

And he disappeared inside, Scully as his heels.

&&&&&&&&&

He watched Parsons fall, watched his disappear into the darkness, watched him plummet into what he hoped was an open door to hell. Only once the screaming stopped, did he remember.

Announce with a shout through his mike that he’d gotten the suspect and his location, he then turned the headset off before yelling, “Scully!” at the top of his lungs and running down the hall, treading carefully as possible while maintaining a top speed to get to her. Skidding around a corner, he found her where he’d left her, partially hidden behind a fallen door, still slumped against the wall, head wound bleeding down her face, shoe-mark clearly evident on her cheek, nose already swollen. Mulder rushed towards her, shoving the obscuring piece of wood to the side, “Scully?”

She raised her head at the second pronouncement of her name, the fear etched so deeply on his face that even with the throbbing in her cheekbones and nose, she gave him a small smile, “still alive. Score one for the red-head in the corner.”

“Can you move?” Suddenly, she stiffened, her eyes rolling wildly around, presumably in search of their suspect whom she didn’t know he’d already taken care of. Clamping his hands on her upper arms, he got in her line of vision, “hey, calm down. Everything’s fine. I got him.”

“I didn’t hear you tell everyone.”

“That’s cause your headset’s in fourteen pieces and your sitting on it.” Pulling his vest off, he yanked his shirt over his head and pressed the wad of cloth to her cut, “are you sure you’re okay? He kicked you pretty hard.”

“Yeah, just help me stand up.” Once he did that, he kept his hands on her waist, steadying her. When she had a firm grasp of gravity again, he made to pull away but she stopped him, free hand curling into his undershirt, “I kissed you.”

The immediately goofy grin that spread across his dirty face made her smile, then grimace with pain, “I know you did and we’ll be talking about that sometime in the very near future, believe me.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers, “right after we stitch up your face and scrub the boot mark off your chin.”


End file.
